West Virginia tops Arizona State in wild Cactus Bowl

PHOENIX - Skyler Howard threw for a Cactus Bowl-record 532 yards and hit David Sills on a 15-yard pass for his fifth touchdown with 2:19 left, lifting West Virginia to a wild 43-42 win over Arizona State early Sunday.

The Cactus Bowl made up for its late start with an assault on the record books.

The teams combined for 1,196 yards of offense and the 950 yards passing was the most in the Cactus Bowl's 27-year history.

Typically a run-oriented team, West Virginia (8-5) went to the air, and Howard broke the Cactus Bowl record of 476 yards set by Washington State's Drew Bledsoe in 1992.

Mike Bercovici threw for 418 yards and hit Gary Chambers on a 58-yard pass in the fourth quarter for his fourth touchdown of the game, but Arizona State (6-7) kicked an extra point instead of going for 2, then turned the ball over on downs its last possession.